SanDisk and SK Hynix Announce Expanded IP and Commercial Relationship

SanDisk Corporation has reached agreement with SK Hynix, Inc. to modify and extend their intellectual property licensing relationship and enter into a multi-year commercial relationship under which SK Hynix will supply its DRAM products to SanDisk.

These agreements include a settlement of the trade secret misappropriation suit filed by SanDisk in 2014.

Under these agreements, which will expire on March 31, 2023, SanDisk will release SK Hynix of its liability pertaining to the trade secret litigation and license certain intellectual property rights to SK Hynix in exchange for license and royalty payments to be made over the duration of the agreement. In addition, SK Hynix has agreed to supply SanDisk with certain volumes of its DRAM products for MCP and SSD applications. The specific terms and conditions of the agreements, including with respect to economic consideration, are confidential.

“We are pleased to have reached this important settlement and to expand our commercial relationship with SK Hynix. We believe this resolution acknowledges the value of our intellectual property while providing SanDisk access to DRAM solutions desired by our customers for their mobile and SSD applications for many years to come,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO, SanDisk.

“We believe this resolution is positive for both SK Hynix and SanDisk and our customers. We look forward to this renewal and extension of our business collaboration with SanDisk,” said Dr. Sung-Wook Park, president and CEO, SK Hynix.